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Fixed Line Data & Internet
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| Key News about Fixed Line Data & Internet | top |
Power Companies Enter the High-speed Internet Market
New York Times, October 17, 2005
The idea has been around for years. In Spain and elsewhere in Europe, utility companies have long offered high-speed Internet service to consumers over their power lines. But American utilities are only now beginning to roll out broadband connections on their grid.
ARRL to FCC: Shut Down BPL System
Access Intelligence, October 14, 2005
In support of amateur radio operator complaints of interference, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is asking the Federal Communications Commission to shut down the two-year-old broadband over power line (BPL) system in Washington, D.C., suburb Manassas, Va. The ARRL action comes barely a week after the Manassas system was declared fully operational and touted as the first citywide commercial deployment - as contrasted to a field trial - in the United States.
Microsoft, Yahoo! to Collaborate On Messaging
Forbes, October 12, 2005
In the headlines this morning, sources in reports say Microsoft and Yahoo! have agreed to collaborate on making their two instant messaging programs work together.
Consumers for Cable Choice Extends Broadband Contest
PR Newswire, October 12, 2005
Responding to today's launch of the much anticipated Apple video iPod, Consumers for Cable Choice extended its contest designed to showcase the potential applications of true broadband technology.
Va. Town Pioneers New Broadband-over-Powerline Technology
PhysOrg, October 6, 2005
The entire city of Manassas, Va., is now online, thanks to broadband-over-powerline technology, Manassas Mayor Douglas Waldron said at a news conference Wednesday morning.
Major U.S. Technology Milestone: COMTek, City of Manassas Deliver First City-Wide Availability of Broadband over Powerline in the U.S.
PR Newswire, October 5, 2005
The 37,000-person Washington, D.C. suburb of Manassas, Virginia, is now home to a major national success story in broadband access: the first city-wide commercial deployment of broadband- over-powerline (BPL) technology anywhere in the United States, according to Communication Technologies, Inc.
IPTV in China Gets an Olympic Start
M2 Communications, October 5, 2005
There is a potentially huge subscriber base for IPTV in China. Analog TV is very popular in Chinese households in downtown or rural areas. There were over 360 million TV users by the end of 2004, and over 100 million cable TV users.
Pennsylvania Utility Ends Broadband Internet Service
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, October 4, 2005
It's lights out for PPL Corp.'s experiment to provide high-speed Internet access to residential customers. David Kelley, president of PPL Telcom, the utility's telecommunications division, said competition and the need for a large customer base to be profitable influenced the decision to unplug the trial.
Texas Instruments New VoCable Gateway Design Lets Cable Broadband Users Roam Freely
M2 Communications, October 4, 2005
Texas Instruments Incorporated today announced it has expanded its industry-leading voice-over-cable platform by incorporating Wireless LAN into a single VoCable gateway. Incorporating high-speed data, voice and home networking features, the TNETC731 is the first to support all of CableLab's advanced PacketCable 1.5 requirements.
Congress Strives for Equity across Broadband Industry
Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, October 3, 2005
The following editorial appeared in the San Jose Mercury News on Friday, Sept. 30:
Telecommunications laws are typically cooked up in back rooms by lobbyists for the powerful telephone, cable and media industries with little regard for the interests of consumers or the needs of the nation.
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The Fastest Net Yet
PC World, October 2005
A new generation of superfast broadband Internet access promises to do more than accelerate Web browsing and file downloads. Five to thirty times as fast as DSL, these new--and surprisingly affordable--wide pipes can in some cases enable new video, voice, and data services. Spearheading the coming bandwidth bonanza are fiber-optic services from Verizon and SBC--and hefty bandwidth increases from competing cable providers. For customers, these offerings can immediately speed up music, photo, video, and software downloads; they could eventually enable HD-quality video on demand, custom views of live events, and other bandwidth-intensive services.
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Broadband-Over-Powerline Gets Texas, California Boosts
Access Intelligence, September 12, 2005
The emerging broadband-over-powerline (BPL) service-provider business received two shots in the arm last week via legislative and regulatory policy initiatives in Texas and California, respectively. Although a Texas Legislature telecom reform measure - Senate Bill 5 - is better known for allowing statewide video-service franchising by telcos, it also establishes regulations for BPL authorizations. Gov. Rick Perry finally signed the act last week. At the same time, the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) last week moved to encourage BPL deployments by proposing rules, which it hopes to have in place by year end, designed to free BPL from the lengthy review-and-approval process needed whenever power companies lease their poles and lines.
Telecom War Helping to Drive Down Broadband Costs for Consumers
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, August 26, 2005
A brewing battle pitting telephone companies against cable providers for high-speed Internet customers is driving prices down and speeds up for users and would-be consumers of the services. Verizon Communications Inc. fired the latest shot Tuesday when it joined forces with Yahoo! Inc. to launch an attack against such cable giants as Philadelphia-based Comcast and Stamford, Conn.-based Time Warner Cable by slashing prices for its digital subscriber line service to $14.95 a month. The price cut followed a similar promotion by another former Baby Bell, SBC Communications, based in San Antonio. It also teamed up with Yahoo! two months ago to offer DSL Internet service on the cheap, also for $14.95 a month. The moves make sense for the telephone giants as they gun for and nail down dial-up customers frustrated by slow downloads and tantalized by a faster Internet -- but not enough to pay top dollar to get it.
View from the Top: The Broadband Boom
United Press International, July 27, 2005
Without a doubt, DSL has become an integral part of the business world, and for home subscribers utilizing it for a host of applications, such as e-mail and Web access. Over the past decade there has been an explosion of broadband networks worldwide.
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High-Speed Services for Internet Access: Status as of December 31, 2004
Federal Communications Commission, July 2005
Twice a year, facilities-based broadband providers must report the number of high-speed connections in service pursuant to the FCC’s local competition and broadband data gathering program. This report found that high-speed connections to the Internet increased 34% during 2004 for a total of 38 million lines in service.
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AOL Tells Users Its DSL Days Are Over
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, June 23, 2005
E-mails were sent Tuesday night to AOL customers who subscribe to the company's high-speed DSL service notifying them that it was being shut off July 8. AOL DSL costs $54.95 per month for the high-speed line and access to AOL services, the company says. Its e-mail recommended that customers call SBC and take advantage of a $14.95 month deal being offered for DSL if they want to continue high-speed access to the Web. AOL officials said they made the move because their DSL service had become too expensive for customers and the company.
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The Best (and Worst) ISPs
PC World, June 2005
A PC World survey of 6000 readers on how major providers rate for speed, tech support, and more.
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Bye-Bye Dial-Up: Broadband Ubiquity Chugging Right Along
Information Week, June 2, 2005
Eighty-eight million American households will be Internet-connected by the year 2010, and 78 percent of those households will have broadband access, according to a report issued Thursday from Darien, Conn.-based Jupiter Research. Dial-ups may soon be a thing of the past.
SBC’s Gambit, Yahoo’s Gains
Business Week, June 2, 2005
A fast Internet connection just got a lot cheaper. On June 1, SBC Communications slashed prices on its high-speed broadband service by 25% -- setting a new floor of $14.95 a month for a speedy DSL connection. But consumers aren't the only ones to benefit from lower prices. Yahoo is sitting pretty.
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Tangled Up Over DSL
KRT Direct, May 24, 2005
Growing number of U.S. consumers are cutting the cord on traditional home telephone service, choosing instead to exclusively use cell phones. But many of these consumers have found ditching their land-line phone service, and its accompanying cost, isn't possible if they want speedy DSL, or digitial subscriber line, Internet service in their homes.
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Broadcast Flap Allies Small/Rural Cablecos and Telcos
Access Intelligence, May 23, 2005
A seemingly broadcast-centric dispute over TV programming signals appears to have a deeper significance to the Internet access, broadband deployment and communication service plans of small and rural cable operators as well those of many of their geographically compatible telephone company counterparts interested in future IP-enabled video.
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Can Telcos Win the Battle for IPTV?
Information Week, May 9, 2005
There's a battle coming between cable providers and telecommunications carriers for the nation's televisions. The former hold the high ground of an impressive installed base, while telecom carriers are coming to the field with Internet television (IPTV), a promising technology that uses IP to deliver television feeds and other services to consumers. However, telecom carriers have a tough fight ahead of them. According to Forrester Research vice president Maribel Lopez, the author of the April report "Telcos' IPTV Reality Check," they're starting with some serious disadvantages, whatever the promise of IPTV.
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America: Still the High-Speed Laggard
Business Week, April 6, 2005
Compared to South Korea, Japan, even Canada, broadband adoption in the U.S. is falling behind. For 20% of Americans, it's not even an option. In 2000, the OECD said the U.S. ranked third in Net users connecting at high-speed among the top-30 world economies. The next year it fell to fourth. Now it's 11th, according to the OECD
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| Web Resources |
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United States Internet Service Provider Association
The U.S. Internet Provider Association serves both as the ISP community's representative during policy debates and as a forum in which members can share information and develop best practices for handling specific legal matters.
http://www.usispa.org/
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CED Magazine
CED is a monthly magazine that offers news and analysis of broadband technologies and industry trends.
http://www.cedmagazine.com/
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